Despite being a long-standing critic of same-sex marriage, Raymond Bardet, mayor of Ville-la-Grand in south-eastern France, officiated the ceremony last Saturday. He told the Dauphine Libere:

“My son was getting married, there was no question of letting anyone else do it. If I had asked a deputy to celebrate the marriage, people could have thought that I was criticising my son or that we had fallen out. Only two and a half months ago I discovered that my son was gay. I am his father and I would be the one to celebrate his union, as I would have done for his sister. I didn’t know his partner, but he’s a good person and they make a beautiful couple together. I saw two smart men, very content together. We always think that it doesn’t affect us, that was my way of seeing things, I never questioned it.”

But despite all that, he still opposes marriage equality. It’s beautiful that he did this for his gay son, but it’s sad that he is still trapped in his own prejudices.

Led by Marion Marechal-Le Pen, the 24 year-old granddaughter of neo-Nazi National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has been convicted multiple times of inciting racial hatred, today Manif Pour Tous yet again staged massive anti-gay rallies in Paris and Lyon, where tens of thousands marched against LGBT families. The granddaughter, seen in the first clip below, is the youngest person ever elected to France’s Parliament… the theme of today’s protest is anger over the right of same-sex couples to use surrogacy to build their families. A member of France’s opposition UMP party is live-tweeting many photos from the event.

It’s amazing, still, to me how much these people care and think it’s their business to stick their noses into other people’s families. Or is this all about using us, once again, as a wedge issue?

Periodically we’ll feature one of our vendors here to let our readers know about some great people who can help you plan the perfect wedding.

Gay Wedding Honeymoon Lodging in La Bruguiere, France. This is a Maison de Maitre (Masters house), built on three levels around 1812 with an enclosed forecourt, shaded by chestnut trees, where we often dine or just sit and relax. On the other side of the house is a good size swimming pool set in a lawn surrounded by flowering shrubs and plants. Ample garden furniture provides poolside seating under the old fig tree.

A little-known provision in France’s marriage laws has prevented some same-sex couples in the country for marrying, when one of the partners comes from a certain country. At least one of those couples has now won the right to marry.

For when France legalized same-sex marriage in May, agreements we brought up from decades ago banning any ex-patriots from 11 countries marrying under the new law. In the court case held today, the prosecution used an agreement from 1981 between Morocco and France banning gay marriage between the two countries. They claimed international conventions have a higher authority under the French Constitution than the ‘Marriage for All’ law passed this year. The defense however implored the marriage law was changed for the ‘French international public policy’ – effectively excluding that French-Moroccan agreement. With the agreement being overturned, this sets a precedent giving hope to all binational gay couples living in France.

Congratulations to the happy couple, and to all other binational couples who now may be able to marry in France.

A law recognising equal marriage took effect in May, but several mayors rejected it as a matter of “conscience”. Earlier this summer Jean-Michel Colo, the mayor of Arcangues, in south-west France, refused to marry a gay couple and said “I will go to the gallows” in order to defy the law. However, the Constitutional Council ruled on Friday that the law does not provide a “conscience clause” for its opponents. “The council judged that, in view of the functions of a state official in the officiating of a marriage, the legislation does not violate their freedom of conscience,” it said in a statement.

If they don’t like the law, they can either try to change it, or not be Mayor anymore.

But some same-sex couples are discovering that they may be barred from marrying because of a quirk in French marital law, as RFI English reports: Frenchwoman Lise and her Polish girlfriend Agnieszka have been together for three years. They were looking forward to getting married after France this year became the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage, following months of bitter debate.

“We were also really happy because it meant that we were accepted by the society,” Agnieszka said. “Then our relationship can be recognised, and we are not freaks or…”

“Different,” Lise added. But under a bilateral agreement signed between Poland and France in 1967, Agnieszka falls under Polish marriage law even while in France. Since Poland doesn’t recognise gay marriage, a French magistrate would have to overrule Polish law to approve the wedding.

According to Towleroad.com, eleven countries have agreements with France that preclude same sex couples from marrying if one partner is from one of those countries: Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Kosovo, Laos, Montenegro, Morocco, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia and Tunisia.

Amandine Gilles, 33, and Angelique Leroux, 27, hoped to be married in their hometown in south-eastern France on 10 September. But on Friday Bollene mayor Marie-Claude Bompard met them and told them that she would not carry out the ceremony because it was against her religious beliefs. She said she would also refuse to lawfully delegate another councillor to carry out the ceremony. Ms Bompard is a member of far-right split from Marine Le Pen’s Front National, the Ligue du Sud (Southern League), led by her husband, Jacques.

Aren’t French mayors legally obligated to perform wedding ceremonies, or at least to delegate someone to do so? If her religious beliefs so motivated her, would she also decline to perform a wedding for a Muslim couple?

France’s rabidly anti gay group Manif Pour Tous, which organized a series of huge anti ga rallies across France, is setting up shop in Italy. Joe.My.God reports:

France’s NOM-backed anti-gay marriage group Manif Pour Tous, which is now run by a coalition of far-right violent extremists, some of whom call for a Catholic theocracy in France, is taking their campaign to Italy.

Yes, because they were so successful in stopping marriage equality in France.

Now that France recognizes full marriage equality, there’s a huge market waiting to be tapped by vendors. Smart Planet reports:

Just days after, drag queen threads and cocktails were replaced by tuxedos and canapes as the city welcomed the first gay marriage expo, G-Day. Wedding planners, photographers, and consultants were all on hand to help couples navigate the uncharted waters of holding a proper wedding in France. One company, Primeday, is looking to be the first to provide A-Z assistance for newly engaged couples — and they aren’t stopping in France. Event planning for gay civil unions (called the PACS, in France) has been around since lesbian and gay couples could acknowledge their partnerships with the PACS in 1999. But with marriage now legal, few services are in place to cater to this market that has enormous spending potential.

France apparently has some long-standing agreements with ten other nations that bar French wedding officiants from marrying binational couples when one of the couple comes from those countries. Gay Star News reports:

France has signed agreements with several countries saying any ex-patriots would be banned from marrying under the new ‘Marriage for All’ law. The 10 countries are Algeria, Bosnia & Herzigovina, Cambodia, Laos, Montenegro, Morocco, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Tunisia as well as the region of Kosovo. All of the countries do not allow same-sex marriage and the estimated LGBT population of these countries is roughly 15.3 million people. These people would be stopped marrying their French same-sex partner. According to Radio France Internationale, agreements were signed decades ago but are coming into force in 2013.

A harsh reminder that we are still a long ways away from full equality, in spite of the advances of the last year.